At the Presbytery meeting in March (in Rotterdam), Alice Tulloch of the Geneva congregation told me about the significant local Filipino involvement in the World Day of Prayer activities in Geneva this year.
Here is Alice’s report, including some photographs.
This year the Committee of the Philippines had prepared the liturgy and material for the World Day of Prayer with the theme “Am I being unfair to you?” based on Matthew 20:1-16.
On Thursday, 2nd March, a bible study on the text and theme mentioned above was led by Athena Peralta from the Philippines who is currently responsible for the work on economic and ecological justice at the World Council of Churches. Her research and advocacy focus on just trade and finance and their gender dimensions, among others. She helped us to see how God’s justice is not always how we would expect it. Through her experience of the situation in the Philippines, she explained how we should relate to this text from their perspective.
On Friday, 3th March, the World Day of Prayer celebration took place in the chapel of the Ecumenical Centre, arranged by the group from the English-speaking churches.
It was a truly ecumenical event. This year we were fortunate to have participation of members of the Roman Catholic Church John XXIII. Some of their Filipino choir came to sing and participate in the liturgy. Pastor Romeo Matutino from the Independent Church of the Philippines also participated. It was a colourful and beautiful service, with symbolic acts, such as the distribution of small bags of rice.
The Filipino community also prepared some delicious specialities to add to the bake sale, and the resulting amount of the collection and the bake sale came to CHF 2’500 which will go to an association to help Filipinos in Geneva.
Report by: Alice Tulloch, Church of Scotland, Geneva
Also see: World Day of Prayer 2017 – Rotterdam